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Has anyone had experience with the Schroeder Arm

In a high res setup has anyone been able to compare this arm to the top pivoting competition.I think that the fact that the pivot is magnetic as opposedto a bearing like a unipivot(needing damping) should on paper be less resonant and maybe sound better.I currently own,and,am happy with a Graham 2.2,but the idea of a true frictionless bearing (all bearings have some degree of friction)really could make a real difference in a good setup.I'm not interested at the moment in straight line trackers with air bearings (although I love some of them)due to the hassle of external pumps and tubing runs.
sirspeedy
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I've heard the Schroeder Reference, Graham 2.2 and Basis Vector:
- all on the same TT (Teres 340-2)
- same cartridges (Koetsu RSP, Koetsu Urushi, Shelter 901)
- same system, same weekend, same beer or wine, etc.

The Schroeder was simply in another league. The Graham and Vector could not match it for neutrality or transparency. I believe this was the unanimous opinion of the 5 or 6 people listening. The session took place over two long days, but it didn't take two minutes to realize the Schroeder was something special. For most of us our critical listening just flew out the window. We were transported by music. It's a lot of pennies, but worth every one IMO.

My Shelter 901 on the Schroeder sang like I've not heard it sing before or since. It had the dynamics and power it always has, but the Schroeder also uncovered a musical soul I never knew the 901 possessed. The Koetsu's sounded, well, even more like Koetsu's! But the main thing we heard from the Schroeder was music. It provided a virtually open pipeline to the recording. I try not to rave very often. Please understand this was, by a sizable margin, the finest component of any type I've heard.

FWIW we now own a TriPlanar VII. With the right cartrdige it comes closer to the Schroeder's transparency than those other arms, IMO of course. It seems more revealing or perhaps just more fussy about cartridges than the Schroeder. The TriPlanar displays the 901 as a bit overblown or edgy, a bit hi-fi. But put a ZYX Airy on it and you get pretty close to the Schroeder Ref's musical disappearing act.

My $.02...
cmk
397 posts
 
I had the opportunity to listen to the Galibier Supreme with both the Schroeder Reference and the Triplanar while visiting Thom Mackris in Boulder. He's an excellent host. I wrote a field report here :
http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=Vinyl&action=display&num=1096030324

Briefly, the Triplanar is a high resolution arm, capable of extracting lots of detail and sounding musical at the same time. Quite extraordinary. The Schroeder Ref has all the same detail, but presented it in a relaxed, natural manner - a characteristic of all Schroeder arms I might add.
thomasheisig
568 posts
 
I think, everyone has it's own kind of sight, I compared last year the Schroeder with a Graham 2.0 ( no 2.2 ), in my System, same cartridge etc. ( it was a Takeda Miyabi ).
The main difference was, the Schroeder creates a bigger soundstage ( holographic ), but is not as precise as the Graham and in my opinion the Graham is much better in the higher frequencies, here it simply delivered more info.
The Schroeder Arm is good, very good, no question, but I didn't buy it, the better Detail from the Graham combined with my doubts about it's pricing ( It's an arm with a magnetic bearing and an armwand made of wood, it is a nice idea, but only a bit different compared to a Well Tempered Ref. ) made my decision.
I think, there are only 2 real advantages with the Schroeder:
you can match an armwand to your cartridge (weight )
and
you can have a longer one ( 10.5 , 12.5 etc.+ matched for your cartridge ).

The higher frequencies have nothing to do with distortion, we used a Klyne 7 Phono with it's special calibratings.

Now, I compared a Graham 2.0 to the 2.2 and I was impressed, that bearing cup is a real improvement.

Anyway, I bought a Tri-Planar VII as a 2. arm for me.

another short story:
a friend of mine, who knows my system well, went to someone who has 2 (!) Schroeder Reference ( 2 different cartridges ) and some rare ( = exclusive ? ) electronics, but average speakers, my friend told me, he was glad, when he left the house, he was so dissapointed from the presentation ( detail, but dull ) ....
An arm alone is not the secret ....
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